Excelerate and Engro sign HoA to expand LNG import terminal

Excelerate Energy and Engro Elengy Terminal (EETL) have signed a heads of agreement (HoA) for the expansion of the EETL liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Port Qasim, Pakistan.

Under the terms of the HoA, Excelerate will exchange its existing Exquisite floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with Hull 2477, which is a new-build FSRU.

Construction of the Hull 2477 is currently underway at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard.

Excelerate chief commercial officer Daniel Bustos said: “We continuously work with our customers to ensure our terminals adjust to the changing needs of their markets.

“In the nearly five years of essentially non-stop operations in Pakistan, we have a proven track record of safe and reliable operations at peak performance.”

Excelerate Energy noted that Hull 2477 will increase EETL’s capability by more than 150 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d), as well as its LNG storage capacity from 150,900m³ to 173,400m³.

The FSRU is expected to be delivered in April and EETL project operations in Pakistan are scheduled to start before the end of this year.

The EETL terminal is the first floating LNG import terminal in Pakistan and began operations in March 2015.

The terminal uses Excelerate’s FSRU Exquisite to deliver approximately 690MMcf/d of natural gas directly into the natural gas pipeline system of the Sui Southern Gas Company.

The Exquisite FSRU caters to more than 15% of Pakistan’s domestic daily natural gas requirements. EETL has since imported around 275 LNG cargoes.

EETL CEO Jahangir Piracha said: “Excelerate Energy has been an excellent partner who has made it possible for EETL to cater to such a high level of utilisation of our regasification capacity.”

EETL is a joint venture (JV) between Engro Corporation and Royal Vopak, both based in the Netherlands.

In January 2017, Excelerate Energy announced its plans to help a consortium comprising Engro, Fatima and Shell to deliver a floating LNG terminal and a second FSRU to Pakistan.